2012/05/29

Going only 100mph or so, we flew from Santa Barbara to Iowa and back this morning.

0246 Out of SBA over Islands

The U.S.S. Iowa that is. The WWII battleship was being towed by the tugboat Warrior from San Fransisco to LA, and I’d been watching her track online. This morning she was only 16 miles past Santa Cruz Island, so we climbed to 9,500 feet looking for the ships. It was hard to spot them in the haze, but finally the Warrior’s massive wake gave them away and we turned toward them.

2358 Iowa & Warrior

Look how hard the tug is pulling against the wind to keep Iowa on course. Descending to a mile above the ship, haze was less a problem. I imagined this view being the last thing an attacking enemy plane would see in this life, as the automated anti-aircraft guns and missiles zeroed in.

Like this:

2012/05/27

Spring is fresh and green here. Farmer’s markets abound, with one somewhere around town most every day of the week. One of the most colorful is the Saturday market downtown, and the first sign we saw approaching it yesterday was the people carrying fresh local flowers as they headed home on the street.

0234 Colors for Home

Among the many carefully adorned stalls, the people are colorful too. This woman with young child and a box of fresh organic local strawberries kindly paused for my camera.

0232 Wholesome

To me this pic could be Europe, and it also has fresh flavors of times long past. Or an advertisement for wholesome food to nourish your family. A few minutes later nearing home we stopped to admire the crisp mountain view and a swallow dancing between insect snacks in the clear Spring air.

0235 Cloud, Bird, Mountain

Strolling amid the bright smell of pepper trees, I contemplated moments and memories. Every season overflows with moments, each so precious yet most not noticed. Some become memories, and some are chosen by an unknown formula to become pix that can represent an essence of our memories or maybe trigger an impulse in us to take yet another fresh look around.

Like this:

2012/05/25

People like perches. High places with a view. Some like this place I call the Castle are presumably just wonderful places to Be and Look.

0107 SYV Castle

It has a commanding view of Santa Ynez Valley, and is designed to make the most of that with tiers of windows in a turret capped with skylights. I enjoy imagining being there and looking on sunny days and starry nights, or when a sudden storm rushes across the valley.

Not far away is this hole in a rock wall that was surely a perch for earlier generations. How many people lived there, looking out at the smaller view or climbing to the “roof” and taking in the panorama across to the islands?

Like this:

2012/05/23

One of my daughter’s fav books was Seuss’ “Horton Hears a Who.” Well, ok, one of my favs.🙂

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

So I wonder if any of the small people visible in this snap of Horton Plaza in San Diego hear we who were flying nearly a mile above.

0006 Horton Plaza

I like this pic because it hints at the creative nature of this mall. We’ve several times been on one side of that diagonal slit down the middle, wanting to reach people or shops on the other side. When we did find a place to cross over, it typically took us to a different level from the one we wanted so then we’d be searching for stairs. But of course, many of the stairs take you back to the other side where you started (tho at a different level). Maybe our playful Dr. Seuss influenced the design even tho the Horton it was named for was presumably the SD historical figure rather than the book (and movie) hero.

Like this:

Even with the haze, in this cropped view you can see there’s lots of sunny Tuesday afternoon action on the promenade. A circle of tourists has gathered to the right of the street painting to watch some sidewalk show.

0024 Venice Skate Park

Just to the right of the first pic toward the surf from the promenade is the skate park where there was also some action. We thought about flying lower for a better view, but it was fun to see such a vast SoCal panorama. Plus, we were well ready to be home quickly for some R&R. Wonderful times in San Diego, and now a good long rest!